Adding weight to back of Stealth+ driver

[harpua728]

I have a 9 degree Stealth+ driver, and it is the club that I struggle the most with.  It's not the club, it's me - I know!  The stealth+ is designed for low spin with weight closer to the face and a it has a 4 gram weight at the back of the head.  I may experiment with replacing that 4g weight with an 11g weight just to add a touch more forgiveness (or, "fargiveness" 🤣) .

 

That being said, assuming all things equal, what can I expect by adding a little extra weight to the back of the clubhead?  Could this lower my swing speed?  Any negative consequences?

 

Thanks.

[edwelly]

I have the Stealth 2+ at 10.5. I am changing the weights in it to a 25g in the back and 10g up front. I'm waiting for the weights to arrive, so fingers crossed this works well for me.

 

-Erik 

[harpua728]

20 minutes ago, edwelly said:

I have the Stealth 2+ at 10.5. I am changing the weights in it to a 25g in the back and 10g up front. I'm waiting for the weights to arrive, so fingers crossed this works well for me.

 

-Erik 

 

What does the current stock weight in the front weigh?

[Stuart_G]

2 hours ago, harpua728 said:

I have a 9 degree Stealth+ driver, and it is the club that I struggle the most with.  It's not the club, it's me - I know!  The stealth+ is designed for low spin with weight closer to the face and a it has a 4 gram weight at the back of the head.  I may experiment with replacing that 4g weight with an 11g weight just to add a touch more forgiveness (or, "fargiveness" 🤣) .

 

That being said, assuming all things equal, what can I expect by adding a little extra weight to the back of the clubhead?  Could this lower my swing speed?  Any negative consequences?

 

 

So you're asking about adding 7 gm to the back - but not changing anything in the front.  That means the swing weight will go up significantly (~4.2 sw pts).   What happens to the results - including how forgiving it might be - is going to completely depend on how you and your swing respond to the different weight feel.     Particularly what might happen to the face impact location and consistency.   No one here can answer that question for you - only testing will give you the answers you want.   Plus 7 gm is not really going to make a significant difference to the MOI of the head so even if the swing didn't change (unlikely), I doubt you'd notice any difference in forgiveness.

Edited February 27, 2024 by Stuart_G

[harpua728]

2 minutes ago, Stuart_G said:

 

So you're asking about adding 7 gm to the back - but not changing anything in the front.  That means the swing weight will go up significantly.   What happens to the results - including how forgiving it might be - is going to completely depend on how you and your swing respond to the different weight feel.     Particularly what might happen to the face impact location and consistency.   No one here can answer that question for you - only testing will give you the answers you want.   Plus 7 gm is not really going to make a significant difference to the MOI of the head so even if the swing didn't change (unlikely), I doubt you'd notice any difference in forgiveness.

So it's basically pointless to experiment with this?

[Stuart_G]

1 hour ago, harpua728 said:

So it's basically pointless to experiment with this?

 

It's never pointless to experiment.  As I said, you never know what will happen until you give it a try.   Face impact consistency actually plays a big roll is dispersion - as much, if not more than the head MOI.  Higher MOI is actually more of a band-aid.  Addressing the root cause (like face impact consistency - or delivery inconsistency) can sometimes be much more effective.   So playing around with head weight (and playing length) can potentially do a lot to effect that face impact consistency - and therefore the level of dispersion you might see.   The improvement just wont be coming from where you originally thought it might.

 

 

Edited February 27, 2024 by Stuart_G

[harpua728]

2 minutes ago, Stuart_G said:

 

It's never pointless to experiment.  As I said, you never know what will happen until you give it a try.   Face impact consistency actually plays a big roll is dispersion - as much, if not more than the head MOI.   So playing around with head weight (and playing length) can potentially do a lot to effect that face impact consistency - and therefore the level of dispersion you might see.   The improvement just wont be coming from where you originally thought it might.

 

 

 

Gotcha.  Makes sense.  A lot of my issues off the tee are related to not getting the face square at impact (or getting it square via some type of swing fault).  I have no issue with my irons, but for the life of me I can't consistently deliver the driver with a square face.  It's killing me.

[Stuart_G]

basically if you want to reduce dispersion - this is the best place to start.

 

 

[Valtiel]

If you want to actually meaningfully increase the forgiveness of the head you need to reduce the front weight as well, functionally relocating weight from the front to the rear. You can get up to 17g for the back weight (an increase of 13g from stock) and you can decrease the front weight in proportion so you aren't just simply making a much heavier club. Per the thread Stuart linked above though, there is a good chance you're struggling partially because stock driver lengths are *very* long compared to what most people can realistically manage, so reducing playing length is always something to consider along with the aforementioned weight tweaks. 

[Lloyd_Christmas29]

Switching the 10g back weight for a 15g in my Sim driver made it a little more forgiving and added some spin. I also have a 21g which makes it very forgiving. The head weight starts to get a too heavy though 

[harpua728]

11 minutes ago, Valtiel said:

If you want to actually meaningfully increase the forgiveness of the head you need to reduce the front weight as well, functionally relocating weight from the front to the rear. You can get up to 17g for the back weight (an increase of 13g from stock) and you can decrease the front weight in proportion so you aren't just simply making a much heavier club. Per the thread Stuart linked above though, there is a good chance you're struggling partially because stock driver lengths are *very* long compared to what most people can realistically manage, so reducing playing length is always something to consider along with the aforementioned weight tweaks. 

 

Would choking down help, or do the shafts need to be cut down?

[Valtiel]

20 minutes ago, harpua728 said:

 

Would choking down help, or do the shafts need to be cut down?

Yes, choking down is a good way to test whether "shorter is better" without modifying anything. 

[Stuart_G]

15 hours ago, harpua728 said:

 

Gotcha.  Makes sense.  A lot of my issues off the tee are related to not getting the face square at impact (or getting it square via some type of swing fault).  I have no issue with my irons, but for the life of me I can't consistently deliver the driver with a square face.  It's killing me.

 

If the problem is face-to-path and/or path inconsistencies - increasing MOI wouldn't help anyway.  That only helps for inconsistent face impact.

 

Playing length and weight still would be the best place to start for that type of inconsistency - so that link to the DIY driver tune up is still the best place to start.   And maybe play around with face angle.

 

And yes, choking up is fine - read the link I posted.   Everything you need to know on how to proceed is there.

Edited February 28, 2024 by Stuart_G